1. Field of the Invention
A carrier assembly including a support frame for rotatably and movably supporting a vertically oriented slat in a vertical blind assembly and further including a clutch mechanism defined by relatively movable gears drivingly interconnecting the slat to a splined tilt rod for rotation of the slat upon rotation of the tilt rod.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vertical blind assemblies are of course well known in the prior art and typically include a plurality of vertically oriented blinds each mounted to rotate about their own longitudinal axis as well as travel along a horizontally mounted supporting header structure. Such blind assemblies are used to cover doors, windows or like openings or portals of a building structure to regulate light and other passage therethrough. Well known prior art vertical blind assemblies of the type set forth herein include a plurality of carrier frames each structured to support one of the plurality of slats and vertically depending relation therefrom. Further, the support frames are structured to selectively move along the length of the header structure so as to collectively position the plurality of slats between what may be generally referred to as an open position and a closed position. Further, an elongated splined tilt rod normally extends along the length of the header structure and is disposed in cooperative relation to each of the carrier frames. A gear mechanism typically serves to interconnect the splined tilt rod with the vertically oriented and supported slat such that rotation of the tilt rod in either of two opposite directions will cause rotation of the slats, collectively about their own respective longitudinal axis and also in opposite directions.
One problem generally recognized with prior art vertical blind assemblies is the tendency of one or more of the slats to become jammed and therefore displaced such that intended collective rotation of the slats will result in the one or more slats having a different angular orientation than the remaining properly oriented slats.
The prior art has attempted to overcome the above set forth problems through the inclusion of some type of alignment mechanism and/or clutch assembly which will allow "automatic" reorientation of the displaced slats without requiring individual manual adjustment or realignment. Such readjustment is of course necessary when one or more of the displaced slats become tangled to prevent its longitudinal rotation with the remaining slats of the vertical blind assembly. In addition to the inconvenience of adjusting such individually displaced slats, damage could further be done to the individual support or carrier frames when the user of the assembly tries to rotate or otherwise position the slats collectively in the normal manner.
Accordingly, there is an obvious need in this area for a carrier assembly incorporating a support frame having mounted thereon an adjustment structure preferably in the form of some type of clutch mechanism. Continued rotation of the tilt rod in the normal manner, in an attempt to angularly orient all of the vertically disposed slats, will not result in damage to the components of the support frame or the vertical blind assembly but rather the "automatic" realignment of otherwise displaced vertical slats. Such a preferred structure should be inexpensive, readily adaptable to existing components and/or vertical blind assemblies and capable of long lasting efficient operation for its intended purpose.